The garden, it was still a pain to walk through, but amplified for today due to what I was wearing. I didn’t notice how much of a pain in the ass this thing was to move in. Sure it was nice to wear, being soft and smooth and all, but it was quite heavy. Not enough to hamper me from sprinting, sure, but it was really testing my stamina and patience throughout the garden walk.

Mother and Father watched from the front door as I stride slowly towards the front gate.

As if on cue, the carriage pulled up at the street in front of the gate, stopping perfectly right in the middle. Leila emerged from the carriage and held the door open for me. In some ways, I actually felt like a princess here.

“After you, Lady Carine.”

I swallowed to steel myself and shooed the irrelevant thoughts away. I held my gown as practiced, taking slow steps to the carriage. Walking up the small steps of the carriage, it took quite a bit of time to find the perfect position for me to sit inside. It was either I’d make the clothes wrinkle or I sit with a weird leg position. But, eventually, I found the perfect spot.

And so, the journey to the party began.

At around the same time, as Feyt, I just finished changing. I was wearing my typical clothes, mainly a plain-looking shirt that I swore looked better than when it was new. I handed my clothes to the maids for laundry a few days prior and just now received them. Not only did it smell good, but it was also real nice to wear. Some of the staff here have magic in their hands, I swear.

After making sure I looked okay enough, I headed down into the entrance lobby. Standing there alone was a pink-haired maid, fixing the cuffs of her maid dress. When she heard my clicking footsteps, she turned towards me and smiled her usual gentle smile.

“Sir Feyt, you’re here!”

“Miss Eliza! Sorry if I kept you waiting.”

“Hmm, not at all, Sir Feyt. I just got here myself. However,” She looked out the open entrance doors into the front gate at the distance. “Unfortunately, you missed Lady Carine. She had just left.”

And… why is that relevant?

“Shall we head out, then?” I asked. “Or is there something else we need to do? Sorry, I don’t know the rules around here…”

Eliza waved her hand dismissively. “No, Sir Feyt, we’re quite ready to depart whenever you are. Oh, but there is one last thing.” She reached into the deep pockets of her apron and retrieved a small leather pouch, its contents clinking softly with the movement of her hand.

She extended it toward me, and as soon as I took hold of it, the weight and sound gave it away. “Is this the gold the instructor promised?”

“Indeed, the Duke has instructed me to tell you that you are free to spend it however you like. However, the Duchess has asked me to remind you to exercise discretion.”

“Discretion? What do you mean?”

Eliza lightly scratched her cheeks as she explained in a soft voice. “Anything unbecoming, to put it simply. Alcohol, weapons, escorts; things of that nature.”

Ah, so basically, just be a goody two shoes and I’d be fine.

“Are you ready, Sir Feyt?”

I gave a polite nod. “Of course! Let’s go!”

I was eager to start my trip around the capital, but when I realized I had to do another garden walk, I felt my shoulders slump at the thought.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

—

Carine was riding the carriage silently. Leila wasn’t providing any topics we could discuss, and to be honest, I needed the silence to truly focus on the other side: my trip with Eliza.

We first start at the noble district. I felt really out of place here with how everyone wears immaculate suits and the types of jewelry I’d hate to wear. As if sensing my uneasiness, Eliza quickly got to work to walk me out of there.

Once we got to the square, I was bombarded with loud sounds. Idle chatter and gossip, children laughing and playing, musicians and bards busking, occasional “Hey, I’m walking here!” as people bump through the crowds.

It was… kind of what I expected. I wasn’t really surprised of this noise, funny enough. I was more than prepared for it and was willing to put up with it to enjoy my time at the capital.

However… I began hearing things.

Things… I really shouldn’t hear.

On an alleyway near a local tavern, a desperate voice reached my ears. “P-Please, I beg you! A-A-Another week! I’ll pay you—Urk!!” It was cut off by a sudden sound of a blow.

“Give me all your money!” came another voice from another alley, followed by the clink of coins and hurried footsteps. “Yeah, that’s it. Value your life, snob.”

There weren’t that many voices like those that I could hear. But, it was significantly more frequent than back at my home village. Even back at home, most quarrels happen because of people being intoxicated or someone caught their loved one cheating. I’d stay away from those things since they weren’t my business.

But the things I kept hearing here, I felt like I couldn’t just ignore them. But what could I do?

“Are you okay?” Eliza’s soft voice broke through my clouds. “You look anxious, Sir Feyt. The city must be very different than your home, huh?”

“Oh, yeah, haha,” I said, plastering my best smile, but even I could tell my lips were twicthing, just slightly though. “Well, I’m hearing some… unsettling things from there.” I pointed at the alley where the mugging took place.

Eliza turned her head there and raised her eyebrows. “I don’t see anything, Sir Feyt. What did you hear, if I may ask?”

“A mugging,” I replied

Her brows furrowed. “And you heard this from all the way over here?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I have… [Enhanced Hearing].”

“Hmm? [Enhanced Hearing]?” Eliza narrowed her eyes. “At this distance? There’s no way,” she whispered to herself.

She didn’t believe me, didn’t she? I let out a silent sigh. It would probably be best to try reporting it to someone else instead.

I walked to a nearby armored knight, Eliza getting caught off guard by my sudden movement. “Sir Feyt? Where are you—?”

“Hello? Mister knight?” I called out to the knight standing by the fountain.

“Hmm? Oh, what is it, citizen?” His voice came out muffled from his metal helmet. But I could tell even from that that he was pretty young.

“Sorry to bother you, but I think I saw someone getting beat up behind the tavern there.” I pointed to the tavern in question. “And I think someone holding a knife walked into that alley over there.” I pointed to the mugging alley.

“R-Really?” the knight asked, definitely skeptical. “I-I’ll check it out, thanks for the report, citizen!” He gave me a solid nod before heading off into the alley where the mugging took place.

I didn’t do much, but this should be enough for me to chill out my conscience. But the longer we stay here in the square, the more I would hear, so I decided it would probably be best to head somewhere else before I hear something even worse.

I walked back to Eliza, who was staring at me dumbfounded. “S-Sir Feyt? What did you talk about with the knight?”

I lightly scratched the back of my neck. “I-It’s nothing, Miss Eliza. Let’s move on!”

“B-But, the square is where most of the capital’s best restaurants are…” her voice faltered. It almost sounded like she was disappointed.

Well, good food couldn’t possibly offset those chilling back alley noises. “I know, but… it’s a bit crowded… Maybe we’ll head back here once the crowd clears a bit?” I gave the best excuse I could think of.

Eliza pondered it for a moment, clearly questioning me in her head. But then she seemingly relented as she cast her gaze down with a sigh. “I suppose. Where shall we head next, then?”

“Anywhere except here, really.”

And so, with that, I left the square as quickly as I reached it. Shame I couldn’t enjoy the sights around there some more, maybe travelling around as Feyt was a bad idea after all.

As Eliza and I headed to our next destination, I unwillingly caught a snip of a conversation in another back alley.

“Yes, everything is ready, hehehe…” a raspy, strained voice called out from another back alley. “Soon… SOON!!! They, will all know! Hehehe… Hahahaha!!!!”

Yep, nope, I don’t want to be involved in whatever that is.

I instinctively quickened my pace, catching up to Eliza whilst begging for my ears to stop being so good for just one time.

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image [https://i.imgur.com/RdC5Gde.png]

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